The Beginning of the End
by Jezzibel
Summary: When the Brotherhood begins to be attacked an unknown power, the XMen discover that perhaps they are not the only defenders of the innocent out there. Crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer
1. Mayhem and Rescues

** The Beginning of the End - Mayhem and Rescues**

"It happened again!" Bobby slammed the doors of the mansion open, announcing his frustration to everyone in earshot. "The problem is completely resolved minutes before we get there, by god knows who, and the only people in the area are a bunch of school girls, who say they have no idea what we're talking about!" Scott, Kurt, Kitty and Piotr followed him in, looking just as dissatisfied. They'd just come from Hartford, Connecticut, where an attack from the Brotherhood had allegedly been taking place. Unfortunately, they'd arrived to find their foes already unconscious and tied together in the square just outside the building they'd been about to attack. This was the fourth time something like has happened, and it was causing no little aggravation to the X-Men. 

"You're right, Mr. Drake, this kind of thing does seem to be happening a little too often for coincidence." Professor X wheeled in from the other room, a contemplative look on his face. "I believe that these school girls are the key."

"Do you think they're being targeted?" Scott snapped into leader mode. "I mean, they were different girls every time, with ages ranging from barely pubescent to college age and older. Even the numbers were different. We normally find four or five, but we once came across a group of fourteen school age children with two adults. I doubt there's a connection."

"No Scott, I don't believe they're truly the targets, but I have a feeling they're crucial to our mystery. Someone is subduing these attacks by the Brotherhood, someone who seems to be against the crimes themselves rather than the fact that it's mutants who are committing them. Why else leave the perpetrators tied up where we can easily deal with them? I believe that if you convince one or two of these girls to talk to you, maybe even to come back here with you, we will find the answers we've been looking for, and perhaps some mutant friendly allies as well."

The others looked thoughtful. In their rage at being thwarted, they hadn't really considered the positive ramifications of there being other forces out there opposing the Brotherhood. Next time they would more prepared, and much more interested in the mysterious school girls.

§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§ 

Back in Hartford, the 'school girls' were regrouping after their adventurous evening.

"Alright girls, you did good tonight, but it could have been better." Cassie, the senior Slayer on the team tried to look stern, but her obvious pride was showing through. "Tina, Max, you were sloppy against that woman with all the arms. You should have expected those knives. On the other hand, bravo on the teamwork. You all need to learn how work i with /i the other girl, rather than just next to them. That's why we have these teams. Karen, you should expect attack from i every /i direction. The flying woman shouldn't have been able to get the drop on you. Be more careful next time." She grinned suddenly. "Still, you're all young and I'm very proud of you. What you did tonight was above and beyond what I expected. It's OK that the man who was shooting those light beams got away. The important thing is that you stopped them."

"Who were they?" Max was slightly suspicious. "I thought we were supposed to battle demons. They were human, I'm pretty sure, no matter they could do."

"It doesn't really matter who they were. All that matters is that they're criminals who are too dangerous for the normal police. They may be humans who have abilities, but we are too. The only difference is that they use theirs for illegal and hurtful things. They seem to have something against us, judging from the number of times we've been attacked, and I know that annoys you, but the fact they're human means we don't kill them, ever, just turn them over to the proper authorities." Cassie rambled for a moment, hoping that at some point she'd say something that would convince Max.

"Which we do by tying them up and leaving them there? How is that turning them over?"

"I don't know, but it works, doesn't it? Look, we're just the soldiers. I'm sure that HQ knows that they're doing, and we just have to trust them, OK? Good." She stood up and made shooing motions with her hands. "Now let's get back so we can shower and I can make my report. Hup two!"

Once they were back at the Regional Headquarters in New York City, and all the girls had gone upstairs, Cassie collapsed in a chair in the Rec Room.

"Nasty patrol?" A voice came from behind her. She turned to see the head of the NYC Slayer division, and her mentor, smirking at her.

"Oh god. Faith, you have no idea." Cassie turned to face her. "It's just so complicated. On the one hand, I'm so proud of them. They try so hard and they're really shaping up. On the other, I don't want them to get too good…"

"Because then they can pass the tests and become full Slayers, and start patrolling on their own, without you?"

Cassie sighed. "Alright, fine, you do have some idea. Is this what you went through, with Jaz, and I, and the others?"

"Worse. At least Karen and Tina respect you enough to listen to you, and Jocelyn isn't that bad. Max is your only real problem, and even that is just because she wants to understand everything, and have it justified."

"C'mon, we weren't that bad, were we?"

"You were all so disappointed to get 'stuck' with number two. You'd all been fed the Super Buffy crap by Xander and the others who brought you in, and weren't at all happy to be stuck with second best. You were surly and argumentative. It was like having five Maxes."

Cassie laughed "Oh God, yeah, we were a bunch of stuck up prigs. But we learned quick, didn't we?"

"And your girls will learn too. Your team is doing a lot better than Claire's, and only Jaz's team is better."

"That's because she's Jaz."

"And she always will be, but you love her for it, and that's what's most important. Your girls will learn that, learn to stick together and watch each other's backs. Hey, if B and I survived on our own, you guys can do anything."

"You're right, we can." And with her resolve firmed, she went upstairs to clean up.

"You've got each other…" Faith said under her breath, a gloomy expression settling on her face. Then she sighed and followed Cassie up.

§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§ 

Logan was trapped. He cursed himself for letting the two ninjas drive him into the alley. He was sure he could take them, but it would cost him too much time, time he desperately needed.

He'd come to Japan three weeks ago to spend time with adopted daughter Amiko. When he'd arrived, Yukio worriedly informed him that she was missing. He'd finally tracked her down, discovering that she'd been kidnapped for her uncanny resemblance to the daughter of a major crime lord here in Japan. If he didn't get to her soon, she would be shipped out of the country and he might lose her. His plans had been anticipated and the kidnappers had sent these two to try and delay him. Unfortunately, it was working.

He was startled when one of the ninjas was suddenly replaced by a young Japanese woman dressed in street clothes. He was even more surprised to realize she'd just thrown his assailant twenty feet out into the street. Not surprised enough to take advantage of the situation, of course. He quickly backhanded the remaining ninja into a wall, following with a quick elbow to the temple to render him unconscious. He then hurried out of the alley to check on his first assailant and the mysterious assistant. He found the ninja in the same state as his partner and the young woman frisking him.

"He take something of yours?" Logan asked in Japanese

She looked up, startled. "Yes, actually. I have reason to believe he's carrying an amulet that was – liberated – from a friend of mine. It's rather dangerous, and I need to get it back. Except he doesn't seem to have it."

"I've got a proposition for you. I've a got a little girl that needs rescuing and you seem like the capable type. You help me and I'll help you. I'm familiar with these men and their employer – and I can get into places someone like you can't."

"You'd be surprised at where I can go." Her eyes were slitted in anger. At his accepting nod, she relaxed and bowed. "Partners then."

And so Logan, called Wolverine, came to learn about the New Watcher's Council and the supernatural warriors called Slayers.

"Look B, this isn't working…" Faith leaned back in her chair, the phone cradled between her ear and her shoulder. "…Yes, I have tried…No…Look, just get one of the…You know, Vi or Shannon. They're trained to handle this kind of command…Shannon, perfect…Yes, I'll stay on to help her…Perfect, thanks B…Yeah, you too. Bye."

Faith sighed in relief. She thought she'd have a harder type convincing Buffy to let her step down. It was true that any of the girls who'd survived Sunnydale were more than qualified to handle a city command, although New York was quite big. Besides, it wasn't like she was planning on leaving. She just wanted the freedom to do so if she desired. Shannon was a good, competent girl, who would have no trouble running NYC HQ, and Faith doubted she'd really have to do much.

She sighed again, this time in frustration. The truth was she was bored. She wasn't used to sitting around doing the bureaucratic stuff. She'd gotten enough of that in jail. She wanted to be free, a lone wolf hunter, flirting with danger again. She was getting soft, for God's sake, with some of the girls getting close to being able to i beat /i her when they sparred. No one could beat her, not even B. – at least, no one should be able to.

A third, resigned sigh. Well, Shannon was coming, and she'd learn quick, hopefully. Maybe there would be opportunities for Faith to go off on her own, to find some Big Bad that needed stopping and do just that. Nothing too big, of course, but she could get that rush again, get back in shape. Yeah! She could do that. That would be fine, surely. She'd still be nearby, and if she got in trouble, she'd call for back-up – maybe. Yes, this could work.

She got up and headed to the training room with a new bounce in her step.

§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§ 

Logan got off the plane in New Windsor. Grumbling about 'no personal flights in the Blackbird', he retrieved his luggage and went out to meet whoever had drawn the short straw and would be driving him back to the mansion. He found a van with Bobby, Kitty and Piotr in it waiting outside. i Ah, the old 'if you do this one thing, you can have the van for the rest of the day' gambit. /i Logan smirked. Luckily, Piotr took up so much space, he and his girlfriend were in the back, so Logan quickly took shotgun. He sat in silence for almost the entire ride, half-listening to the kids prattle on about their lives.

"…no school girls around to 'help' us this time." Bobby sounded smug, as if he himself had arranged for the school girls not to be around.

Logan's ears perked up at this, and he smirked. "So you guys have been 'rescued' by these Slayers too, eh?"

The looks of shock on the three faces at his statement were priceless

§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§ 


	2. Fellowship and Foul Play

**The Beginning of the End - Fellowship and Foulplay**

"…so Amiko was safe and Natsumi got her disk thing back, and we parted on good terms. That's it." Logan crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, watching the other occupants of the room. Once the kids had figured out he knew who the mysterious school girls were, there'd been a huge fuss, and a meeting had been called in the Professor's office will all the senior X-Men. Logan was forced to tell the story of his encounter with the Japanese Slayer from beginning to end, while the looks of disbelief on the faces of the others grew. Only the Professor was immune, and he seemed deep in thought. 

"So, they're a bunch of girls who have super strength and speed, but aren't mutants? And we've never heard of them before?" Scott sounded sceptical. He was disinclined to believe anything the Canadian mutant said, and this certainly sounded more farfetched than usual.

"Well, Natsumi said something about there being one or two, or something, for years and years, but now there are a couple thousand. It's harder to hide those kind of numbers."

"And they fight crime around the world?" Ororo questioned. She was sure that what Logan was saying was true, it was just confusing. "Alone and in groups?"

"She really didn't want to talk about _ what _ they did, but she let some stuff slip that sounded like magic or demons. Looked pretty worried after she'd said, like she didn't want me to hear. Didn't make much sense to me."

"I have heard something about this in the past, many years ago." The Professor steepled his hands in his lap. "I was called to Muir Island by Dr. MacTaggert because she thought she'd found a new mutant for my school. It seemed a young girl had been found dying in an alley, only to heal at an incredibly accelerated rate, and to attack her rescuers with a strength that seem far beyond that of a girl of her apparent age. She was delirious and therefore rather dangerous, and was brought to Moira in the hope that she could help. The girl, named Heidi, was raving about vampires and curses, saying she must stop them, that they'd killed someone named Burkitt. When she began to come around, these 'delusions' seemed to persist, as she begged Moira to let her go, so she could avenge her 'Watcher'. She was still weak, so Moira advised against it, but Heidi eventually escaped. Moira mentioned that Heidi had repeatedly referred to herself as the 'Slayer', much like this girl you encountered, Logan."

"There have been documented cases of people encountered demons and vampires, cases that have never been disproved." Jean interjected. "I say we take this at face value, believe that there is something out there much like demons, whether supernatural or not. These girls seem willing to help us, and they certainly seem able. I think we should contact them, find out more about them, and see how we can help in return. It's like the Professor said last week, mutant friendly allies are never a bad thing to have."

"Natsumi said something about them being based in Cleveland, pretending to be a girl's school."

"Then that's where we start."

§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§ 

"Ms. Summers, there's a call for you on line 3."

Buffy looked at the ID, saw the New York number, and snatched up the phone. "Faith, this better be…Oh, I'm so sorry sir…I see…Hmm…Where did you hear of us?...Yes, yes...That's very true." As Buffy listened, her eyes grew, and then a smile started to creep across her face. Faith was bored, was she? Tired of doing paper work? This would be just up her alley…"Salem Center, New York, you say? Actually, we have a branch in New York City, much closer. I'm sure that's where your help has been coming from…Yes, I'm sure they'd love to talk to you…Very friendly, yes…Alright, I'll tell them you're coming…Thank you sir."

She hung up and picked up the phone again. "Carly, get me Faith please…Hey 'F', how are you?...You know those weird superhuman attacks that have been happening all over the country? I've got an inside source on who these criminals are and why they've got such power…I'm sure you've heard the buzz about 'mutants' that's been going around…Exactly…Actually, some of them want to meet you…Oh, in the next week, I'd say…Play nice, Faithy." She laughed as she hung up again. _ I'm sure she'll be getting me back for that, but it'll be a long time coming. In the meantime, she's got some Slayer-Mutant interpersonal relations to work on. _

§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§ 

Faith was fuming as she put down the phone. So she was going to have to play nice with the mutants? They were probably really creepy looking. God knows that's how her girls had described them. Frog-like, way too many limbs, or in weird costumes to hide their deformities. Still, if she dealt with the properly, there was no way B. could stop her from taking some time off. She'd have earned it.

Time off to plan her revenge. Buffy wouldn't know what hit her.

After some argument, it was decided that only three people would accompany the Professor to New York. Logan was going, saying he had the most experience with Slayers, and Jean because she believed she knew the most about these vampire and demon legends. The trouble would be finding the third person. Scott had to stay behind to watch the school, and Ororo would be helping him. Unfortunately none of them could agree on who it would be. Ororo thought it should be someone young, to help them seem less threatening, as well as to show that they too trained children. Scott wanted someone with a more visible mutation, to counteract the fact that the other three looked quite human. He didn't give any reasons as to why he thought this was a good idea. Logan wanted someone strong, with a good offensive mutation, in case things went wrong. The others frowned on this suggestion that there could be danger, especially from the man who'd instigated the whole thing. Neither Jean or the Professor weighed in with their opinions.

It was at this minute than Rahne Sinclair, also known as Wolfsbane, decided to knock on the door of the Professor's office. As she stuck her head around the door, she found five people staring at her with growing smiles on their faces.

"Rahne, how would you like to go to New York?"

There was something in Professor Summers voice that made her hair stand up. She gulped reflexively.

"Sure?"

§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§ 

Faith was nervous, and she was nervous, she hit things. She'd gone through three punching bags already and the SITs were staying well out of her way. With one final punch, she sent the bag flying into the wall, its chain broken. The mutant contingent was due to arrive in an hour, and she still had to shower and change.

Forty-five minutes later, she was pacing nervously in front on the door. Her hands were clenching and unclenching, and it was plain she hadn't gotten the urge to punch things out of her system yet. Claire and Rachel were whispering about something, and giggling, while Jaz and Cassie stood against one wall looking worried. The fifth team leader, Erin, was in Brooklyn with her girls, putting down a large nest that had been discovered the night before. The other four thought she was getting off easy.

They all froze as the sound of a very powerful knock reverberated through the lobby. Trepidated, Rachel walked slowly forward and opened the door.

Whatever they'd seen fighting in the streets had not prepared them for the sight in front of them. A long low whistle broke the hush.

"He's hot." blurted Claire

Faith had to agree. From what her girls had told her, she'd been expecting creatures with blue skin, three eyes or oozing slime. The cultured looking man in the wheelchair, the smiling redhead at his side, and especially the ruggedly handsome man now glaring at Claire, were nothing like any of her imaginings. Even the slightly feral looking girl lurking behind them looked no more wild than half the girls who'd been brought in from a life on the streets. Faith realized she was going to have to re-evaluate everything she'd been planning with respect to dealing with them.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward. "Hi, I'm Faith. You must be the X-Men."

As one, the group in the doorway seemed to relax and the redhead's smile suddenly seemed more genuine. The young girl was still lurking, but she seemed like the type to be suspicious of her own mother. Faith breathed a sigh of relief. _ Maybe this won't be so bad after all. _

§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§ 

Jean relaxed as she heard the dangerous looking brunette introduce herself in a light hearted way. As Charles wheeled himself forward and introduced himself in return, Jean breathed a sigh of relief. _ Maybe this won't be so bad after all. _

It turned out the ruggedly handsome man was called Logan, but went by the name of Wolverine, and every other thing about him lived up to his wildly exciting exterior. The moment the X-Men had entered the mansion, Faith had sized him up and decided she liked what she saw. It had only taken her a few hours to convince him and now here they were, sweaty, breathing hard, utterly exhausted, but completely satisfied.

"You're…amazing." Faith panted. "I mean, I could tell you had some mad skills when I met you, but – whew. I am sore in places I didn't even know existed."

"You weren't too bad yourself." A quick flash of sharp canines, and Faith was feeling up for round four. A loud knock at the door was the only thing that 'saved' Logan, although he didn't look too relieved.

"This better be good." Faith growled.

"Erin and Cassie sent me. They said to tell you that the Professor has a situation that needs your attention." The voice of Alyssa, one of the junior Slayers came through the door. "And – uh – Erin said you can get your kicks later, and that, uh, she didn't know you were so desperate for a good – uh…"

"It's OK, Lyss, I get the picture." She turned to Logan.

"If Chuck says he needs you, he needs you."

"Alright Lyss, tell the girls I'm coming. I just got to clean up" She called back through the door. "Guess we have to continue this later, huh?"

Logan just raised his eyebrows and smirked at her.

After a quick shower, Faith went downstairs to find the senior slayers and all the visitors standing around a small laptop, staring at the screen intently as Jean tapped away at the keyboard. They all seemed tense, but Faith recognized the tension, at least her girls, as the kind that comes just before a big fight. She knew that whatever she found on the screen wasn't going to be pretty, judging from the anger that was evident in the some of the shoulders. As she approached, Logan turned towards the sound of her footsteps. The fury in his eyes made her stop for a moment before hurrying over. More heads turned and the same rage was reflected in their faces, both Slayer and mutant.

"Alright, what the hell has happened?" she demanded. The response she got was a unanimous parting, allowing her to see the screen finally. At first, she thought she was looking at the feeds from four security cameras, as each quadrant of the screen was taken up by a grainy picture of a sleeping teenager. Her throat contracted as she realized that the pictures were still, probably from a newspaper, and that the subject of each photo was not sleeping, but, in fact, dead – most likely from the stake shoved through their hearts.

§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§ 


	3. Death and Dirty Dealings

**The Beginning of the End - Death and Dirty Dealings  
**

They all stood in silence, staring at the screen. No one spoke until Claire turned and ran from the room, hand over her mouth.

"Where did you get those?" Faith asked hoarsely, still staring blankly at the pictures.

"They were sent to us." Jean replied. "They're all mutants, from the information that came with the files."

"Who's it all from?"

"The Brotherhood." At Faith's quizzical look Xavier clarified. "A group of mutants who believe they're better than humans and should be allowed to take control. They're the ones who've been attacking you. We hypothesized at first that it was because you represented competition, more superhumans who could be a threat to their goals…"

"But I think we've found the real reason now, don't you?" Logan growled. "This is your MO, isn't it?"

Rachel whirled to face him. "Hey! You think we - ?" She stopped as Xavier put a hand on her arm.

"No, he doesn't. None of do. What Logan is saying is that to the uneducated eye, these crimes look to be the work of a Slayer, or Slayers."

"Hell, even to my _educated_ eye, it still looks like a Slayer's work. It takes a lot of practice to be able to get the stake in at just the right angle to get past the ribs and still go through the heart, as my girls should know." Faith met the eyes of the four senior slayers in the room.

"Well, some else could have been practicing, couldn't they? If they knew how they wanted to kill, they'd want to get it right." Rachel protested, but it was easy see she wasn't sure of what she was saying.

"Yeah, but our way is not the only way, and in fact, it's pretty damned hard to pull off if you're not a Slayer." Turning to the X-Men, she explained. "We're gifted, as you probably know, with super strength, speed, agility and senses, but they're very specified. Our strength is mainly in our limbs. For example, I could lift a car if I wanted, but couldn't hold it up for very long, because my trunk strength would give out. The muscles in our arms are very good for quick, thrusting motions, like stabbing or the blocks used in most martial arts. To build those kinds of muscles on your own, without developing the other muscles in the arm, would be almost impossible. So this is either a Slayer, or someone whose gone to a hell of a lot of trouble to imitate one."

There was a stunned silence as everyone looked at her. Her Slayers' jaws had dropped. This was obviously the smartest thing they'd ever heard her say.

"Hey, I read." She said, annoyed. Skeptical eyebrows rose. "Alright, I heard Red explain it to someone once, and figured the info might come in handy some day. And, hey, it did, didn't it?"

"Alright, so it's Slayer related, whatever it is. The question is why was it sent to you? Is it a taunt, a warning, a cry for help, what?" Rachel asked.

"The first thing is to find out who these girls are and what newspapers those pictures are from. Cassie, call Central HQ and get one of Fanboy's crew on this. See if we can get some idea what this is about. Jaz, you're on patrol tonight and Logan's coming with you. Any others?" Faith turned to Xavier, who shook his head. "Alright, be careful. Obviously someone knows there's a connection between us and our esteemed guests. If the whacko that did this is framing Slayers, they've got a grudge and they might be looking to make it more personal. Rach, Erin, you guys get some sleep and tell the girls the same. We're gonna need to be alert and ready from now on. Ok, go on."

As the team leaders left in their various directions, Faith collapsed into a chair.

"You're rather good with them." Xavier observed quietly.

"Yeah, well, I have to be. I'm the one that trained them, I'm their boss, and in this game, not listening can get you killed. You need to be able to trust your leaders, your teammates to have your back, to make the right decisions. I've seen what happens when girls question orders at wrong time, and trust me, it ain't pretty. I've got to make sure that everything I tell them is true, is a good idea, or at least is built on something true or good, or otherwise, things go wrong."

"It's a good principle, and one more people should adopt." Xavier said gently, sensing this was a sore topic for her.

"It's just, you mutants are unique, each power is different and plays a needed part. You lose the guy who can fly, or your telepath communicator, and it screws things up for everyone. Make people a little closer to indispensable. Slayers now, whole different story. For years it was 'Slayer's acting up? Not towing the line? Kill her. Maybe the new one will be more pliable.' And now that there's thousands of us? Too many people are seeing the girls as expendable. Human lives should never be seen as expendable. It just…." She growled and through her hands in the air.

"I understand, although the variety can also cause problems. Many children come to the school thinking they will be superheroes, that they can save the world. The truth is, many mutants have beautiful, wonderful powers that can help them in their everyday lives, help with the little things that make the world a better place, but they don't see it that way. They want flash and force, stopping the 'bad guys', and too many of them get killed in situations that are beyond their abilities. Not many people live a reality were they must worry about burying their students, and when you've dug a dozen graves, it's still as hard as the first time."

They sat, two teachers, staring into nothing as their own visions of the past flashed through their minds. Tomorrow would be a busy day, with sleuthing to be done and 'bad guys' to catch, but right they were just occupied with prevent one more death on top of the many they'd already seen.

§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§¤§


	4. Answers and Appreciation

**The Beginning of the End - Answers and Appreciation**

"Look,_ Andy_, Faith just wants the names of the girls…You don't need anything else…We don't know either….No….NO...Oh, for God's sake…Yes…Thank you." Erin hung p the phone and turned back to the group. "That was Andrew. He got the names of the girls. Apparently all four photos are from major papers, yet somehow no one's noticed them before. The first is Sally Munroe, published three months ago in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Next is Alex Ho, from the Des Moines Register, published 6 weeks ago. Then the Denver Post, Jenny Forrest, three weeks ago, and finally, in last week's LA Times, a picture of Kara Jonas. He was really curious about those last two, and said he wanted to look something up, so hopefully we'll hear more soon."

"Four girls, four cities, killed weeks apart. What's the connection?" Jean mused.

"Well, for one, we have an HQ in every city listed. And there are only eight, if you don't count the mini-base in the capital. Kind of an odd coincidence, don't you think?" Faith smile was patently false.

"They are all major cities, and the pattern does seem to be moving west. Perhaps it is a coincidence, albeit a strange one." Xavier was playing devil's advocate.

"The first city just happens to be our main headquarters, and not the capital of the state? And De Moines? Really only a major city to those corn-fed hicks."

"Alright, let's say you're right. From what we've seen, the killings are getting closer and closer together. If this pattern holds true, the killer should strike within the next week. Where's the next target?"

"Well, he's reached the coast, so he can't go west. That leaves north and south. Since he's been getting away with this in bigger and bigger cities, I'm thinking he'll leave Billings, Montana, alone. That leaves Fort Worth, Texas."

"Alright, so we know where he'll probably be next, but what do we do about it? Wait for him to kill again and hope we can catch him after? That still leaves us with another dead body and no guarantee of being able to stop this maniac." Cassie looked like she wanted to hit someone.

"Exactly, so our next priority is figure out what criteria he's using in picking these girls. A profile, if you will." Xavier looked around at them expectantly.

"Actually, Andrew said he'd been working on something like that and he'd call us when he figured it out." They all looked at the phone expectantly, which complied and rang. Erin leapt at it. "Andy?...What? Really?...Oh God…No, yeah, it does help…You may well have…Thanks…Bye." She hung up the phone and seemed to deflate.

Everyone stared at her. "Weeeeell?" Faith drawled.

"What? Oh." Erin looked up to see all eyes on her. "He found a connection alright. Every single girl is the sister of a SIC at the relevant HQ."

"Oh God." All the blood drained out of Faith's face. "Jenny Forrest. I knew her. Michelle Forrest is the Commander at Denver HQ. I was the one who went to her house to give The Speech just after we originally set up base."

"And Sally Munroe is Carly Stack's half-sister." Erin pointed out. "Different fathers, which I forgot, because Sally usually goes by Stack."

"Carly, B's right-hand girl?" Faith asked. Erin nodded. "But we just talked to her. She definitely doesn't know her sister's dead. Just how did Fanboy get those IDs?"

"He said it took him a while, because the girls were all Jane Does, and the quality of the pictures was bad. He ran some sort of facial recognition software."

"So it's possible no one knows these girls are dead?"

Three hours later it was determined that Sandra Ho did indeed know that her sister had been killed, but had no idea that the death was connected to any others, and hadn't recognized the method of killing as being particular to Slayers. Carly had known her sister was missing, but since Sally had a reputation for being flighty, no one had really been worried. Unfortunately, three months disappearance was a little out of the norm for her, and so when Andrew had started asking questions, Carly had put the pieces together. Buffy said she'd been given the week off to go home and tell her parents the news, with that time to be extended indefinitely.

The Forrests and the Jonas', on the other hand, had no idea, and no one wanted to be the ones to tell them.

"This sucks. When we recruit these girls, we tell them and their families that they _will_ be fighting the forces of darkness, and that it_is_ a dangerous job. Their parents know that some day, they may get that call. But when I make those calls, I can tell them that their little girl died defending the innocent, or even the world. Telling them that I'm not calling about their Slayer daughter, but the other, the one they thought they didn't have to worry about? And that they were killed only because they happened to be related to a Slayer? There is nothing good in this." Faith looked pleadingly at Jean. "Do you think I can wait? Until we catch this bastard? At least then I can say the monster who did this is off the streets and will be punished."

Jean looked at her, sympathy in her eyes. "It's your choice, Faith. Could you live with yourself, if you waited? Do you really think they'd appreciate it?"

Faith sighed, shook her head, and picked up the phone.

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End file.
